RCRC members are encouraged to share letters addressed to state and federal representatives and regulatory bodies with RCRC’s Government Affairs staff.
Assembly Bill 41 (Gallagher): Disaster Relief: Camp Fire. Assembly Bill 41 provides that the State share for disaster relief is born by the State as it relates to the Camp Fire that started in November 2018 in Butte County. Status: AB 41 awaits action by the Senate. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 134 (Bloom): Safe, Clean, Affordable, and Accessible Drinking Water. Assembly Bill 134 would require funding from a Safe Drinking Water Fund or Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund to be displayed in the Governor's annual budget and requires the board by a specified date of each year to review the assessment of funding need and to prioritize the public water systems. Status: AB awaits action by the Assembly (Third Reading File). RCRC Position: Watch
Assembly Bill 217 (Garcia, E.): Safe and Affordable Drinking Water. Assembly Bill 217 establishes the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund in the State Treasury and provides that moneys in the fund are available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the State Water Resources Control Board to provide a stable source of funding to secure access to safe drinking water for all Californians, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure. Status: AB 217 awaits action by the Assembly (Third Reading File). RCRC Position: OVA
Assembly Bill 247 (Dahle): Disaster Relief: Carr and Klamathon Fires. Assembly Bill 247 provides that the state share for disaster project allocations to local agencies is up to 100% of total state eligible costs connected with the Klamathon fire that started on July 5, 2018, in the County of Siskiyou, and the Carr Fire that started on July 23, 2018, in the County of Shasta. Status: AB 247 awaits action by the Senate. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 343 (Patterson) Forestry: Biomass Energy. Assembly Bill 343 would have required the California Natural Resources Agency to create and implement a program to offset the costs of transporting fuels to a biomass energy facility. Status: AB 343 failed passage in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 1080 (Gonzalez)/Senate Bill 54 (Allen): Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction. AB 1080/SB 54 requires manufacturers and retailers to reduce the waste associated with single use packaging and products 75 percent by 2030, requires the state to set standards for what is considered recyclable and compostable, and promotes the development of in-state manufacturing that uses recycled materials. Status: AB 1080/SB 54 awaits action in its respective houses (Third Reading File). RCRC Status: Support
Assembly Bill 1144 (Friedman): Self-Generation Incentive Program. Assembly Bill 1144 requires the California Public Utilities Commission to establish pilot projects to install energy storage systems to back up critical infrastructure in high-fire threat districts. Status: AB 1144 67 awaits consideration in the Senate Energy, Utilities & Communications Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
Assembly Bill 1236 (Lackey): Public Resources: Greenhouse Gases. Assembly Bill 1236 sought to increase in-state recycling and help local governments comply with Senate Bill 1383 organic waste recycling mandates by, among other things, requiring CalRecycle to develop a program environmental impact report for compost facilities, thereby reducing costs, delays, and the risk of litigation for those projects. Status: AB 1236 failed passage in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support
Assembly Bill 1356 (Ting): Cannabis: Local Jurisdictions: Commercial Cannabis. Assembly Bill 1356 provides that if more than 50 percent of the voters of a local jurisdiction voted in favor of Proposition 64, these local jurisdictions must issue a minimum number of licenses authorizing retail cannabis activity within that jurisdiction. Status: AB 1356 awaits action by the Assembly (Third Reading File). RCRC Status: Oppose
Assembly Bill 1486 (Ting): Local Agencies: Surplus Land. Assembly Bill 1486 adds more specificity to the types of agencies subject to the Surplus Land Act, by adding sewer, water, utility, and local and regional park districts, joint powers authorities, successor agencies to former redevelopment agencies, housing authorities, and other political subdivisions of this state to the list of agencies that are mandated to follow certain requirements before disposing of surplus land. AB 1486 also redefines and substantially broadens the term “dispose of” to include the sale, transfer, or other conveyance of any interest in real property. Status: AB 1486 awaits action by the Assembly (Third Reading File). RCRC Status: Oppose Unless Amended
Assembly Bill 1516 (Friedman): Fire Prevention: Defensible Space Fuel Reduction. Assembly Bill 1516 would make various changes to improve California’s fire prevention policies including its defensible space requirements. Status: AB 1516 awaits action by the Assembly (Third Reading File). RCRC Position: Support
Senate Bill 19 (Dodd): Water Resources: Stream Gages. Senate Bill 19 requires the California Department of Water Resources to develop a plan to deploy a network of stream gages that includes a determination of new needs as well as opportunities for reactivating existing gages. Status: SB 19 awaits action by the Assembly. RCRC Position: Support
Senate Bill 62 (Dodd): Endangered Species: Accidental Take. Senate Bill 62 extends the sunset date on a provision allowing an “accidental take” of candidate, threatened, or endangered species resulting from acts that occur on a farm or a ranch in the course of otherwise lawful routine work. It also repeals the sunset on the California Endangered species Act’s Safe Harbor Agreement Program. Status: SB 62 awaits consideration in the Assembly Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee. RCRC Status: Support
Senate Bill 190 (Dodd): Fire Safety: Building Standards. Senate Bill 190 creates a model defensible space program for local governments and requires the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) to provide training resources for local building officials, builders, and fire service personnel to improve building fire safety standards. Status: SB 190 awaits action by the Senate (Special Consent Calendar). RCRC Position: Support
Senate Bill 200 (Monning): Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund. Senate Bill 200 establishes the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund in the State Treasury and provides that moneys in the fund are available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the State Water Resources Control Board to provide a stable source of funding to secure access to safe drinking water for all Californians, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure. Status: SB 200 awaits action by the Assembly. RCRC Status: Pending
Senate Bill 209 (Dodd): California Wildfire Warning Center: Weather Monitoring. Senate Bill 209 establishes the California Wildfire Warning Center, a statewide network of automated weather and environmental monitoring stations to conduct fire weather forecasting and threat assessment to aid in wildfire prevention and response. Status: SB 209 awaits action by the Senate (Special Consent Calendar). RCRC Position: Support
Senate Bill 253 (Dodd): California Agricultural Conservation Program. Senate Bill 253 requires the Scientific Advisory Panel on Environmental Farming under the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, to assist government agencies to incorporate the conservation of natural resources and ecosystem services practices into agricultural programs. Requires the Department of Food and Agriculture with advice from the panel, to establish and administer the California Agricultural Conservation Program subject to an appropriation by the Legislature. Status: SB 253 awaits action in the Senate (Special Consent Calendar). RCRC Position: Support
Senate Bill 414 (Caballero): Small Systems Water Authority Act of 2019. Senate Bill 414 creates the Small System Water Authority Act of 2019 and states legislative findings and declarations relating to authorizing the creation of small system water authorities that will have powers to absorb, improve, and competently operate noncompliant public water systems. Status: SB 414 awaits action by the Assembly. RCRC Status: Support
Senate Bill 462 (Stern): Community Colleges: Forestland Restoration Workforce. Senate Bill 462 would require the Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges, working in collaboration with the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, to establish a model curriculum for a forestland restoration workforce program that could be offered at campuses of the California Community Colleges. Status: SB 462 awaits action by the Senate (Special Consent Calendar). RCRC Position: Support
Senate Bill 724 (Stern): California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter. Senate Bill 724 would have made a number of changes to the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act (commonly known as the Bottle Bill). In addition to providing regulatory relief to retailers, the bill adjusts payments and incentives to stabilize existing recycling businesses and bring more recyclers to rural and unserved areas. Status: SB 724 failed passage in the Senate Appropriations Committee. RCRC Position: Support